Thursday, May 20, 2010

Last Day

Today has been very eventful, and sadly, was my last day in Ireland. I woke up at 6:30 and had breakfast at 7:15 with the whole group. I ordered an Irish breakfast (which I have tried before), so it was another cultural piece of my trip. We all loaded onto the coach bus again to travel around Ireland.

First, we stopped in Adare. It has a small village of cute cottages. There was also a small park to walk around. Once we walked around a little, we traveled to the Cliffs of Moher. It was so gorgeous and very picturesque. I walked around with Gabby and Angelica up the steps and hills to make it to the top of the cliffs on both sides. One side has a tower. They warn how dangerous it is, but I went close to the edge for some great photos. The weather was so warm and perfect for the last day's adventures. After walking around here, I had lunch and got back on the coach around 2.

We traveled and made it to Limerick to drop off our luggage and relax until dinner. We met up at 4:30 and drove to Bunratty Castle. It was really cool to see this. The medieval banquet started by going up the castle and getting mead. I did not like this because I hate the taste of alcohol. There was a violinist and harpist. Then they guided us to where we had to eat. It was a candlelit room with music and entertainment. There were four courses: soup (with no spoon), ribs, chicken, and a fruit dessert. Once this was over, there was a 30-minute period when they sang. It was really fun, and I actually knew a lot of the songs. Most were Irish and a few I played on the guitar before (such as "Star of the County Down"). At the end, there was a man playing the bagpipe, and our tour guide (Joe) danced around. It was funny.

After this, we had a fun ride back to the hotel. Joe sang on the microphone, and we all joined in and clapped. It was hilarious. Then we had our final group meeting, which was so nice and really summed up the trip. We went around in a circle and shared a favorite memory and said our final goodbyes. This trip has been so worthwhile and given me so many great experiences. Tomorrow I am waking at 4 AM, driving to Dublin, and flying back home.